ESPN has the Seahawks offense all wrong

ESPN released a ranking of best to worst offenses for 2019 and the Seahawks were near the bottom. What exactly is the four letter network thinking?

Let me say that I normally like ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. He has a funny style of writing and does his research. But his ranking of the NFL offenses for 2019 is way off, especially the part about the Seahawks. According to Barnwell, Seattle has the 29th worst “offensive arsenal” in the league.

Barnwell does give his criteria for his ranking. And the way he ranks teams is important as he states, “These rankings are attempting to consider a team’s skill-position talent without including the impact of the quarterback, offensive line or scheme.” So throw out Russell Wilson for Seattle. Not including quarterbacks does seem odd, though.

The confusing part to me, however, is why Barnwell feels the need to include a bit about Brandon Marshall playing “meaningful” snaps for Seattle in 2018. Marshall was released shortly after the season began because Seattle had better options and Marshall wasn’t working out. Is this really important enough for Barnwell to mention? That is a head-scratcher. Because Marshall was on the Seattle roster last year doesn’t mean the receivers are bad this year.

Barnwell also says the depth chart behind Tyler Lockett is “scary thin.” What he could, and probably should-, have said was “unproven” because there is a ton of potential in the likes of D.K. Metcalf and Gary Jennings.

Barnwell is also wrong in saying that Rashaad Penny was simply a “change of pace” running back in 2018 without also mentioning that Penny will have a much bigger role in 2019. Barnwell simply doesn’t seem to know the Seattle offense. And he is wrong where he is ranking them.